Kiss Me
by Gwen Cooper Williams
Summary: Gwen's getting married, and Owen realizes he's in love with her. Gwen/Owen, Gwen/Rhys. Spoilers for 1x13 and 2x01.


Gwen was getting married. That first day when she came into the hub, all smiles and giggling with Tosh and showing off her ring he tried to put on a good face for her. He really did. Even managed to give her a kiss on the cheek in congratulations, while inside he felt nothing but pain.

He figured out he had fallen in love with Gwen shortly after Diane left. He needed that time with Diane to realize what he was feeling for Gwen...but then he went and ruined things between them and ended the relationship. Ended it before she got a chance to so that he could feel like the one in charge. How stupid he was back then, thinking that he really must not have cared for Gwen and thought he was in love with Diane, instead. Opening that rift was perhaps the dumbest thing he had ever done. He caused Gwen's boyfriend to die when he opened that rift.

He had walked into the medical bay and saw Rhys laid out on the table, saw all the blood, and knew beyond a doubt that he was not being called in to tend to a wound. The man was dead and Gwen was crying, being comforted by the captain. Owen had felt a rush of jealousy towards the Captain right then, and tried to get Gwen to cuddle into his arms. Later, when the captain died, he had felt even worse begrudging the man for comforting Gwen.

When Gwen refused to leave Jack's side, Owen thought he had lost her, too. When Jack came back from the dead, he thought for sure Gwen would be leaving Rhys for Jack. But then Jack disappeared and Gwen came to him for comfort. Those nights she spent in his bed...well, he knew it had been a bad idea and would end with someone being hurt. He just didn't know he would be the one to be hurt.

It was sometime after they had finally gotten back from the mountains when Gwen told him she couldn't do this anymore. She told him that she loved Rhys, and she thought she ought to try to be loyal to him. Owen said he understood, but that didn't stop them from having one last shag right there on the autopsy table.

So now the wedding was approaching. Gwen's desk was a cluttered mess of Torchwood reports not yet filled out, wedding magazines, and samples. Every once in a while Gwen would show something to him and ask him his opinion. He didn't know. He didn't _do_ weddings. He especially didn't do weddings if it involved the woman he was in love with. That would just be too painful to help plan. He told her to go talk to Tea Boy.

The day of the wedding arrived, calm and clear. Owen had "volunteered" to man the hub during the wedding, allowing Jack, Ianto, and Tosh to attend. Tosh said she'd bring him a piece of cake. He tried to smile in response. He had to admit, Tosh looked pretty nice in her satin dress, but he also knew coming onto Tosh would only hurt. He realized with a sigh that he had barely shagged anyone since Gwen had announced her engagement. He contemplated going down to the pub once everyone else got back and finding a bird for the night. He certainty would need it after this. He sighed. The rift wasn't doing much of anything, so he tapped into the CCTV closest to the park where Gwen was getting married in.

He watched Gwen in her beautiful wedding dress as she talked to two women Owen assumed were her mother and future mother-in-law. He saw her twirl around and watched as Gwen adjusted her hair. Tosh entered the scene and he watched the two women embrace. Tosh was making motions off to the side and Gwen nodded, and then Jack and Ianto came into view. He watched as Gwen looked beyond Ianto, as if she was looking for someone else. He wondered if she was looking for him, because he was able to read Jack's lips when he said "hub", and could only assume she asked where he was. He didn't notice the dejected look on Gwen's face.

Somehow, Jack must have realized that Owen was watching through the CCTV, because he spun Gwen and positioned her so she would be the only thing in focus. Gwen was handed her bouquet of flowers, and Owen assumed someone was taking photos, because Gwen began to smile and pose, first on her own, and then with various other people as they walked into the scene being played out before him.

A sob caught in Owen's throat as he looked at how beautiful Gwen was. He wasn't a crier. Why in the bloody hell did seeing his co-worker in a wedding dress choke him up? But he knew it was more than that. With determination in his eye, he set up the programme that would send any activity alerts straight to his PDA, grabbed his leather jacket, and was out of the hub and to the car park so fast he missed the CCTV feed showing Gwen looking straight into the CCTV camera mouthing the words "I love you."

He broke every possible speed limit and went through every traffic light on his way over to the park. He screeched his car to a stop right in front of the wall of rosebushes that he knew Gwen was standing behind. He walked up to the bushes and peeked through, sure enough, Gwen was standing right near the bushes. "Gwen... Gwen!!!" Owen hissed through the bushes. Gwen moved closer to the bush.

"Owen?" She whispered out of the corner of her mouth, the whole time trying to maintain a smile on her face for her mum. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come see you," he spoke into the bush.

"What? I can't hear you." He repeated himself a few times and Gwen was getting quite frustrated so finally she fished her earpiece out of her clutch and pressed it into her ear. "Owen? Are you there?"

He grinned. Clever Gwen. "Look, I know I'm doing this completely arse about face, but I had to come talk to you. Please don't get married."

Silence. Utter silence. And then, "Owen, you wanker. Why shouldn't I get married?" He could picture her standing there, hands on her hips, her bouquet probably forgotten at her side. He chuckled to himself at the thought.

"Because," he spit out, "Gwen bloody Cooper, I am in love with you." He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the tirade that was sure to come next. He was shocked instead to hear:

"You prat. Get your arse over her and kiss me!"


End file.
